S4 ABS ECU thingamy and flasher relay.

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Dan Gliballs

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Hey chaps :)

* My beeping flashing dashboard is starting to get slightly annoying now and we're pretty sure it's the ABS ECU/module thingy on the side of the pump. My proper Rosstech VAGCOM set-up reads everything fine apart from anything to do with brakes,......"Communication error" or something like that flashed up. Are these stupidly expensive or available from scrappers/common with other A4's?

*I seem to have a 'sticky' and inconsistent flasher relay too. The stalk seems to click and cancel and do all the things it's supposed to do. So if it IS the relay, is it easy to get to etc? (I haven't even looked into it yet as I'm up to my eyes in concrete and preparing for the house extension). Are they cheap and readily available?

Many thanks ;)
 
Is it this symbol flashing on your dashboard ->>> (!)

If so, yes it's your ABS ECU. Very common fault. If you are a wizard with a soldering iron you can do the fix yourself, but believe me when I say this is not a task for the hobbyist!

I got my ABS ECU repaired by BBA-Reman for about £120. Had it back in about 3 days from sending and could still drive the car fine whilst it wasn't fitted.

What is the problem with the flasher(indicator?) relay? Does it not auto-cancel? Is the timing out of sequence?
 
Not necessarily the ECU bit likely. Can you post your fault codes DAN GLIBALLS? It may help to determine the cause. I'd recommend BBA Reman. However, I have a flashing (!) and it's both my rear sensors. Due to be fixed imminently!

Flashers run through the hazard switch, pop out, pop in.
 
Blue_Thunder said:
Is it this symbol flashing on your dashboard ->>> (!)

If so, yes it's your ABS ECU. Very common fault. If you are a wizard with a soldering iron you can do the fix yourself, but believe me when I say this is not a task for the hobbyist!

I got my ABS ECU repaired by BBA-Reman for about £120. Had it back in about 3 days from sending and could still drive the car fine whilst it wasn't fitted.

What is the problem with the flasher(indicator?) relay? Does it not auto-cancel? Is the timing out of sequence?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the symbol that flashes :)

I'll have a hunt for this BBA-Reman website,...........though I have a friend who's an electronics nerd and is very handy.

The indicators don't flash at ALL sometimes - Very dangerous at roundabouts and junctions etc obviously.

I'll check Ebay maybe for a relay.
 
dieselfitter251 said:
Not necessarily the ECU bit likely. Can you post your fault codes DAN GLIBALLS? It may help to determine the cause. I'd recommend BBA Reman. However, I have a flashing (!) and it's both my rear sensors. Due to be fixed imminently!

Flashers run through the hazard switch, pop out, pop in.
Click to expand...

Cheers chap, but as per my first post there aren't any codes to report (as far as braking systems go) ;)
 
Sorry ^^^ misread your post. If your gear is Rosstech bonafide then they should be able to sort it for you unless it can't communcate with your ABS ECU module at all which would mean it's goosed which is what you've probably been saying all along! I'm a ****!
 
audi upgrades
dieselfitter251 said:
Sorry ^^^ misread your post. If your gear is Rosstech bonafide then they should be able to sort it for you unless it can't communcate with your ABS ECU module at all which would mean it's goosed which is what you've probably been saying all along! I'm a ****!
Click to expand...

LOL!!!

Maybe just a twit,............just today ;) :)
 
Your mate will have to be handy enough to solder the wires (which are almost too small to see) which i'm pointing to with the tip of this needle!

The_Borrowers_Holiday_Home.jpg
 
Hmmmmmm, I'll put it to him on the off-chance :)

OK, I've finally realised that the flasher/indicator relay is indeed in the hazard switch,............NOT like Vauxhalls then lol. New one will be here on Wednesday from the dealer for £16 plus the vodka and tonic.
 
Blue_Thunder said:
Is it this symbol flashing on your dashboard ->>> (!)

If so, yes it's your ABS ECU. Very common fault. If you are a wizard with a soldering iron you can do the fix yourself, but believe me when I say this is not a task for the hobbyist!

I got my ABS ECU repaired by BBA-Reman for about £120. Had it back in about 3 days from sending and could still drive the car fine whilst it wasn't fitted.

What is the problem with the flasher(indicator?) relay? Does it not auto-cancel? Is the timing out of sequence?
Click to expand...

http://www.bba-reman.com/catalogue/Products.aspx?category=40

Am I blind or is it just not listed on this page? I can see references to the pump itself, but not a £120 ABS ECU thingy. Is it a phone up job? :think:

Cheers again everybody by the way :thumbsup:
 
Ahh gotcha, so the wee black plastic ECU modulator thingamy on the side can't be removed separately and sent off,............the whole pump has to go?

Excuse me for being a little dim on this lol
 
No, just the black plastic bit on the side needs to be sent. Think there were 6 torx bolts holding it on. I used a flexi driver to get at them. Think I might even have needed to remove the wheel arch line to get at the bottom ones. Can't remember, it was a while back.

Once i'd removed it, I covered the thingies (you'll know what I mean when you remove the ECU) with a plastic bag and taped it up so as not to damage the unit when I was driving around.
 
Aye, wheel arch out jobby on mine, I also ended up taking the water bottle out too as My torx drive was too big. Loadsa ****** fun that was! Think I only managed two grazed knuckles....
 
Oh joy lol

I'll attack that next week when I've finished digging these ****** old foundations out!!
 
Blue_Thunder said:
No, just the black plastic bit on the side needs to be sent. Think there were 6 torx bolts holding it on. I used a flexi driver to get at them. Think I might even have needed to remove the wheel arch line to get at the bottom ones. Can't remember, it was a while back.

Once i'd removed it, I covered the thingies (you'll know what I mean when you remove the ECU) with a plastic bag and taped it up so as not to damage the unit when I was driving around.
Click to expand...


Hey there :)

I finally had an hour spare yesterday so went over to borrow a friend's ramp.

My arch liner is off (how many soddin torx screws do Audi use for this?????!!!!), got the washer bottler to one side, undid the 6 or 8 torx that held the ABS thingamy on. When I got the unit off, it was kinda bigger and 'more of it' than I was expecting,..........a mixture of metal and the Bosch black plastic.

When you say you "covered the thingies", do you mean those rows of flat-ended metal pins that are then exposed? Is it safe to drive around like this for a while?

When the unit was off I noticed that there were sort of semi-loose metal bushes (bosses?) that jiggle about inside it,............does this sound familiar?

I've HALF put things back together (ie just bolted the unit on with the top two torx screws, fixed the washer bottle back in with just one bolt, arch-liner in the boot) for now to drive around until you reassure me that it sounds like the correct lump to send away lol

I can't really see how it can be anything else.

We're off on a 800-ish mile round-trip to Lancaster and York at the weekend,............just wanted to know if it was safe to drive like that.

:beerchug:
 
Perfectly safe to drive around with the electronic module removed.
 
Excellent then,........and it all sounds correct by my description?

I'll just have to remind myself that I have no ABS for a bit. I was demonstating the car to a friend a week ago and the car locked up SCARILY easily at around 60mph!!! I'll keep even more distance on the wet motorways etc next week.

It's totally annoying that the dash BEEEEEEEEEEEEPS at me all the time, but even more annoying is the fact that I can't see my fuel consumption and so on on the display for more than a split second,................actually that's probably a GOOD thing.
 
I've had may beep x3 for around 12 months now (mot jst failed :O( ) . My unit had been out to BBA reman and come back fine but they have a two year guarantee so fingers crossed!
If I remember correctly, when the ABS is FUBAR the brake balance is shifted to the rear so you may get more lock up at the back wheels, I certainly noticed this when my tyres were getting done in. But it's all quite easy to handle, just don't brake when you're in a corner!, not that that should be normal practice anyway!
Let us know how you get on with the module fix?

p.s. are you really a drummer?
 
Funky!!!!

Are you a proper proper player then?

I love the purity of a trumpet when it's played right :cool:
 
Aye, I work with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, toured with the commitments, (about 8 years ago now) freelance around the UK etc.. That's the main reason for my cars ridiculous mileage!!
http://www.frank-holden-interprets-sinatra.com/videos.new-york-longer-17-10-08.html
This is me on lead (the big high notes! )on a Frank Sininatra tribute show last year...

We're gonna get busted for beingn so way off topic. Maybe we should start a 'Musicians Corner' on Audi-sport.net

Incidently my ECU's off to BBA tomorrow. Hopefully we'll both get a fix!
 
dieselfitter251 said:
Aye, I work with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, toured with the commitments, (about 8 years ago now) freelance around the UK etc.. That's the main reason for my cars ridiculous mileage!!
http://www.frank-holden-interprets-sinatra.com/videos.new-york-longer-17-10-08.html
This is me on lead (the big high notes! )on a Frank Sininatra tribute show last year...

We're gonna get busted for beingn so way off topic. Maybe we should start a 'Musicians Corner' on Audi-sport.net

Incidently my ECU's off to BBA tomorrow. Hopefully we'll both get a fix!
Click to expand...

Holy moly, that is SUPER-slick :cool:

Love the huge ending,........not only us rockers who do that then lol

You have the perfect car for doing that in. I have a 2001 406 HDi estate to drag all my kit around in.


Here we go, picures are often easier than words.

Obviously I'll bag-up the two connector plugs, but this is how I'll be driving it for a week..............

Extensionetc084.jpg



And this looks right as a unit to send off?

And YES I'm a worrier, and YES I'm a Gemini :arco:

Extensionetc085.jpg
 
umm that doesnt look right to me?

I've never dismantled one myself, but afaik the ECU you remove is just that, an ECU. You appear to have removed some kinda valve block or something from the pump?

I might be wrong though, so dont panic just yet :p
 
Pheeeeewwwww ;)

And I've saved that page to favourites for future reference.
 
Yeah, man exactly what I've just been doing for the last 35 mins. Boxed and ready to go! Who are you sending to? BBA reman do a pre-printed UPS standard label you can print off. QUite handy!
 
dieselfitter251 said:
Yeah, man exactly what I've just been doing for the last 35 mins. Boxed and ready to go! Who are you sending to? BBA reman do a pre-printed UPS standard label you can print off. QUite handy!
Click to expand...

Aye, handy if you're not in the middle of a 2 storey extension, and things like printers are buried along with garage contents etc ;)
 
dieselfitter251 said:
If my PITAsystem gets fixed.........
Click to expand...

I've got to drive 800+ miles this week from the SE coast up to Lancashire, over to York, and back down (including various excursions to Oxford etc etc) with my ****** dashboard beeping and flashing!!!! lol
 
I'm back now after a 668 mile trip in the S4 with no ABS :)

BBA-Reman left a message yesterday to say that my ABS ECU is fixable and I'll ring on Monday to give them the go ahead.
 
Unit returned yesterday morning,...........refitted,.........washer bottle refitted,..........arch liner refitted,.................ALL BEEPS AND FLASHES GONE FROM MY DASHBOARD!!!!! :jump::yes::rock:

I VAGCOM'd it and it now talks to the ABS again.

The intermitant lambda fault seems to have gone again now too :sly:

Ah well, I'll be cleaning the car up this week to sell it.
 
Cool man. I've just got a bouncy brake pedal so one of the sensors must be out just a tad but it's the best my ABS has worked in 2 1/2 years. A shame I'll not get the chance to enjoy it!
 
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